Pneumatic tire.



l io

^ This invention relates to pneumatic tires.

BERNARD GRANVILLE,

or NEWYORK, N. Y.,

- PNEUMATIC iriiaifi.

' Toalljwho'm't may concern:

l l New York'city,

companyingdrawings, forming a part of the same,-

for vehicle wheels,.and especially vfor Wheels of automobiles or motor vehicles.

.' More particularly the ini'fention'relates'to pneumatic tires oi that class knownas 'ar-.-

moredltires, in Whichthe'tread of. the anflexiblel material is nularjair-conta'ining body .of more or 'less protected against puncture bymeans of apunctiire resisting band or rim of' inetal.: .v 1

The obJect of'the invention is to provide a3 tire o f this class which shall retain the pneumatic-tire, shalll be of simple Vand comparatively inexpensive construction,- and shall-require no change in structure .of vthe felly and tire yattaching riml of the Wheel and may be made for' 'attachment-to the va rious styles of' rims commonly in use, and

which shall possess other ,important advani which are .hereinafter retages some loi" ferred to. i 4

,Many-efforts have' been made heretofore vto 4produce a practical and satisfactory pneumatic Itire in which thel annular airycontaining body is protected against puncture -and wear by means of a mtalbandfor lplate, but such-structuren so 4far as I :am

aware, have been unsatisfactory, 'if not wholly worthless, either because o f th'eir not having the ldesired riding qualities or because of their not being durable under the severe strains to vwhich they are necessarily subjected in use.

Such y'prior structures of which I have' knowledge have also been of relatively complicated 'and expensive construction. y ln a tire made in accordancel with m present invention, I provide a, rigid 'outer rim consisting ofa single integral 4piece of suitable metal and ofa weight and shape'to givethe desired degree of strengtli and'rijV gdity, and a strong fiexible annular tu.

bularinlatable body of rubber and canvas yor other suitable material tov the peripheral or tread portion of which the outer4 rigid in the county of New York' and State 'of New York,\h. avef invented cer` tain new and useful vImprovements in Pneu matic Tires, fully described and represented -in the following specification and the ac-.

' side strains'transmitted to speiiicatio'n gf Letters raient., pabnmdl Jam 3m, 319170' application aiednember i,- 1915. serial Na. 65,001'.

rim is applied and by which it issupported,

with oppositely engaging circumferentiallyextending faces whereby ytheI rim is held against lateral 'displacement lrelatively to V ythe"v body. The flexible annular inflatableb ody Amaybe similar in its general construction to an unarmored pneumatic tireand may be secured-to the wheel felly in any but it'm'usty be'of usual or suitable manner, sufiicient strength to resist-when inflated the itl fromdtlie rigid outer riin and prevent abnormal lateral displacement ofthe rim relatively to the wheel 'fellyl The rigid outer rim is provided with a cushion treadwhich is most desirably of 'solid rubber. i I.` 'In the "construction 'which I now con- Sider best and'wh'ich has proved eminently satisfactory in use, the rigid outer or armor rim is formedwithinwardly Iextending approximately parallel side, 'iianges integral with the. intermediate or main portion' of the 'rim'which is -best madefiat or with a circumferentially extending centrallylocated bulge. The .meeting ends'of-fthe rim are welded together in such manner as to -give the'required strength and durability to en-l able the ri'm to stand up' under long continued use; The annular iniiatable bodytowhich such channeled'riin -is to be'applied v.hasits 'peripheral or tread portionformed with` circumferential extensions vor ribs' so fas to 'fit within the channel oit-'thel rim, and-- the body is'ma'de of such circumferential size that when iniated its'tread portion will be pressed .outward tightly' 4into the channeled rim. The rimwvill thus be carried -andheld in position solely by tlieinflated body, no additional guiding o r other means" :being required to preventl lateral displacement of the rim', and the flexible side walls of the body being entirely unrestrained and freel so that .the air-containing body may perform'its cushioning functions to the full 'extent necessary for affording the desiredriding qualities.

A full understanding ofthe invention can best be given, and various features and advantages thereof can1 best-'be pointed out, infconnection with a detailed description of an approved embodiment of the invention,

and such a description will now be given in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate two forms'l of tires 'made in iio l vat accordance with the invention and which I now consider as the best embodiments thereof.

In said drawiiigsz-Figure 1 is a view in cross-sectioii of a tire inade in accordance. with the invention and a wheel felly to wh'cli it is attached; Fig. 2 is a view in ele! han of an automobile wheel provided with a tire such as shown in Fig. 1; and

in sonie respects fioin that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a 4cross-sectional view similar 'to Fig. 1 but showing a constiuctioii differing `edges of a metal clencher rim 11 of the wheel felly. Applied to the peripheral-or -outer portion of the' body casing b, is a continuous outer puncture-resisting rim 12, which is formed with side flanges c extending inwardly approximately parallel to each other and to the planel of the axis of the tire, (such plane being at right'angles to the .wheel axis or axis of rotation of the tire) and with' its intermediate ormain'portion between the flanges transversely flat adjacent the flanges and with an outward bulge d between the flat-parts e. The flanges a desirably have outwardly turned edge'so for protecting the sides of the body 10' as' hereinafter explained. The peripheral or tread portion of the body casing b isi shaped to lit within the vchannel of .the 4riin 12 between its side flanges, being formed with lateral ribs or ridges 13 which have faces f to bear against the outer llat parts e of the rim and side faces g to bear against the flanges c, said faces g being approximately. parallel to each other and to theplane of the axis of the casing. The side faces of the ribs 13 and the inner sides or faces of i the flanges c thusprovide oppositely engag-v ing circumferentially extending faces by which the riin 12 is held against lateral displacement relatively to the body 10. For a rim 12 of the cross-sectional shape shown in Fig. 1, the part ofthe body casing between the rectangular ribs 13 will be formed to extend into and seat against the circumferential lbulge d. The riin 12 is provided with a cushion tread15, most desirably of rubber and of suitable thickness, which should best cover the whole outer surface of the rim and which may, be secured thereto by being caused to adhere directly to the' surface of the riin or in other suitable manmy ner. f

The tire shown iii Fig. 3 differs from that of Fig. 1 in that the rigid armor rim 12 is of different shape in cross-section and tlie'tread portion of the casing of the body 1()a is correspondingly shaped. The intermediate or main portion of the rim shownv in this ligure is transversely flat all the Wa'y across between the side fla'ngesand` the edges .of the side flanges are not turned outward,

and the ribs 13a of the casing of the inflatable body are extended so that the casing has a square peripheral-or tread portion to tit lin the channel of the rim. Either form of rim, as well as various other forms which might be used under the invention, is good,

but the forni shown in Fig. 1 has the prac-v tical advantages of giving greater strength and rigidity for the saine weight of metal without excessive depth of the side flanges,

vaiding in holding the tread against side thrust, and savingrubber in both the body and the cushion tread.

As the outer rini 12 is carried and held in position wholly by the inflatable tubular cushioning body' 10, the body must be of suilicient strength and suitably secured to the wheel felly to resist the strains transinitted to it through the outer rim. The

required strength of the body Will ofcourse vary according to its size and the Weight of the vehicle to which the tire is to be applied. A's a general rule, I find it to be sufficient if the flexible inflatable body 0f -one of my tires for carrying a given load thereof as indicated in the drawings; and the ribs 13 may be molded from suitable material., such as a suitable rubber coinposition, without fabric, but with, most desir- .ably, the outer vvlayer of rubber of the casing extending outside the filling portion of the ribs as indicated in the drawings. casiiigs shown may be made in vthe usual inanner of producing casings for inner tube clencher tires, the mold being shaped to provide space for` and to properly formA the ribs13. In laying up the material for molding, suitable strips of material for forming the illiiig or body-portion of the ribs 13' will be placed in position before the outer layer of rubber is4 put on, .so that the outer The layer will then extend over such strips of material to provide in the completed casing after vulcanization a continuous layer extending ovei.' the whole outer surface of the casing. y y

The -o'uter rim 12 must not only be punctfire resistant, but it' must be of a material 130 :tamme and strength to"'withstand the strains-and shocks toywhich itis subjected and to retain its. strength under the strains and shocks of long' continued use. the onlyumateriall suitable for this outer rim is ametal having alhigh degree of elasticity and tensilel strength. I have found the parmost suitable to be vanadium' ticular metal steel, andopen hearth' steel has given good der that the rim-,shall stand up Without.

Y suitable cross-section, it must consist of ya4 single continuously integral Vpiece or body of satisfaction.v I have also found that in or-- fracture under long continued'use, Whether it is 'of thegexact shape shown or' of other the metal and must be so rigid that it Will'be violent shocks to which Isubjected in use.'

onlyvery slightly flexed even under the most the tire' is ordinarily I find that i`f the rim is lno t of such a degreeof'rigidity-the constant flexing ofthe rim in use apparently' disturbs l single-continuously integral annulus of steelv tivelyl small, mileage,

the molecular structure 4ofjthe lsteelso that after a greater or less, butalwayscomparalizatio'nfollowed by fracture..

ma bolted erv otherwise secured together, regardless of how'7 strong and't'ight the bolting may be. p With my rigid frim, consisting' lof: a

provided with a ysuitable cushion tread as shown, although not necessarily of the relativel thickness shown, the `rim apparently retains its strength after long continued use Vunder the hardestv conditions. By Way of e'lxample, a channel rim such as illustrated in'Fig. 3 "of the drawing, made -fromopen hearth steel three-sixteenths inch thick and three'in-ches Wide and with side flanges one inch Wide has been found entirely satisfactory for use in tires for an lautomobile of medium size' Weighing 'over 3000 pounds.

Obviously, the dimensions ofthe rim might .be varied, and should be varied according to the character of the metal and according to the size of the tire and the load to becarried.

The steel from which a `rim is yto be made may be lrolled-out ydirectly to the required cross-section, or may be rolled flat and the i edges of the strip then turned'lto form the side flanges. The strip for each rim is then rolled or otherwise shaped to the desired curve and the meeting ends are secured together by electrically butt-welding them, or otherwise suitably Welding-them so that the `riml becomes essentially a continuously integral annulus. I consider it very desirable that in the completed rim all partsthereof lshall be normally Without strain or tension .i and especially that the flanges shall not be under strain, "and in forming the rims, I

' v therefore, when the ends are to oesecured Sofarv as I know noW `tion of the inflatable body 'outer rim and against both ,portion of the rim and its 51de flanges, and

there results crystal-v p Apparently also'such crystallization and fracture'are induced-bythe vibration Awhich seems toy be- -always present during usefin a rim fWhich is de upjof separate pieces or parts of metal.

by electrical lbutt-Welding, make the strip l pleted rim will b'e normally Without strain or tension inl any .of its parts.'

In order" that the peripheral or tread pori shall always be pressed tightly linto the channel lof the rigid the intermediate in order that it may follow t'hemovementof therim in the direction away fromthe wheel felly under ordinary,v shocks, the inflatable body should most desirablybe -ofsuch size or so constructed that When under inflation without themet'al rim lbei-ng in place .its cir'- lcum'ference will 'be somewhat, greater than the circumference lof ythe inner face of the rim, and the distance between the side faces of its rim engaging ribs will be .somewhat greater thanthe distance between4 the engag`v ingfaces o f the1 rim flanges. The unsupported side Walls of the body between the Wheel felly and the rim. extend'oultward radiallylof the wheel, -or approximately parl-I allel to the plane vof the tire axis asv shown, so that theyI shall act to hold the rim against lateral displacement relatively to the felly.

It is desirable also that the sides of the in'.

flatable body shall bulge lor extend laterally butlit't'le or not at all beyond the sides of the rigid outer rim in-order that they shalll 4not be liable to undue wear or injury in-case the tire is running in a rut Vor under similar circumstances.V The outwardly turned edges ofthe flanges cin' Fig. 1' afford additional protection, or will protect .a ybody having somewhat -more bulging sides than .the

straight flanges of Fig. 3.

. i'ic lilith a construction such as shown,I'find that it is notolnlynot necessary, but .is not desirable that the rigid outer rim be cemented or otherwise secured to the inflatable body, 'since relative circumfercntial movement between the outer rim and the inflat- 'able body is, except for possible slight creeping, prevented by the friction due to the pressure-of the body 'against Athe flanges and intern'iediate 'portion vof the rim, and it is ofadvantage tohave the rim free to move out from the body at the top of the wheel in the y event oflexcessive shock being imparted to, .the vtire at the bottom. The frictional resistance to circumferential movement.be tween the outer run andthe inflatable bodv is iiurcased by the wedging of the ribs of.'

the body into tne corner angles between the flanges and adJacent parts of the rnn. The

angular edge between the faces f and g of 'the body'ribs should not be extended to such ex ent as to interfere with such wedging A tire constructed as herein described, on'

account of the large bearing surface of the rigid outer rim on the inflatable body, which equals the projected area o f the rigid rim', requires a lvery much lower air pressure Within the air-containing body to give the same supporting effort as is securedwith a very much higher air pressure in the ordinary pneumatic tire with its flexible tread. Eo'r example, under conditions where a press re of to 90 pounds would be carried in Ei ordinary pneumatic tire, I secure the s Ine support with a pressure of from 15 to -20 pounds, and even a relatively lower pressure may safely'be used.- A further advantage of my construction 1s that `much less heat is developed through friction of the tire tread with the road, and that such as is developed appears to be almost entirely dissipated Jfrom the sides of the rigid outer steel rim. 0n this account, 'and because of the avoidance of wear on the flexible inflatable body, such body has a much greater life thanva body of an ordinary pneumatic tire.

Because of the much lower air pressure required to be carried 1n my tire, the danger of blow-outs is 4greatly lessened, and in fact,

substantially eliminated; 'and because of the greater supporting power under a given air pressure my tires may be used on much heavier trucks than 1t has heretofore been` considered possible to equip with pneumatic tires. It should also be mentioned that the construction of my tire permits of retaining the standard circumferential sizes of the tires without alteration of the present form of wheels to which they are applied. It sh'ould also be notedl that thcerigid side flanges of the rigid metal rim yin my-eonstruction, which extend inward about and support the sides ofthe flexible inflatable -bodv act to reduce or substantially )revent v 3 v .y

side roll of the tire in use, this effect of reducing or avoiding side roll being the greater as the side flanges of the rim are of greater depth and extend farther inward about the sides of the flexible body.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction shown and to which the foregoing description has been largely confined, but that it in eludes changes and modifications thereof within the claims.

That is claimed is: y

1. An armored pneumatic tire embodying the following elements, to-wit: a rigid puncture-resisting rim formed of a single continuously integral annulus having marginal inwardly extending approximately 4parallel flanges, and a flexible annular in flata'ble body having an internal pressure chamber extending radially outward between thc side flanges` and cireumlerentially extending` projections at opposite sides of said chamber having approximately parallel side faces seating against the rim flanges and peripheral faces seating against portions of the rim adjacent the flanges, the relative proportions of the iim and body 'being such that. internal pressure in the chamber tends to move the jnojections of the body laterally and radially into contact willi the inner faces of the flanges and adjacent portions respectively of the rim, they rim being held against movement relatively to they body both radially and circumferentiallyl only by frictional engagement of the opposing faces of thci'im and body.

Q. An armored pneumatic tire, comprising a flexible annular inflatable body, and' a floating rigid armor rim mounted on the periphery of said body, said rim consistingl of a continuously integral piece. of metal formed with oppositely vfacing engaging faces extending longitlulinally of the tire in planes approximately parallel to the plane of the axis ofthe tire, and the flexible body being formed with approxin'iately parallel vfaces to bear against said engaging faces of the rim, whereby the rim is held against lateral displacement relatively to the body, unsupported side walls of the flexible body extending radially outward from the wheel felly to the rim, and the rim being supported and held against lateral displacement relatively to the wheel felly solely by the flexible body, a-nd being free to move radially outward relatively to the flexible body under excessive shock, .l

3. An armored pneumatic tire, comprising a flexible annular inflatable. body, and a floating rigid armor rim mounted on the periphery of said body, said rim consisting ofv a continuously' integral piece of metal formed with integral inwardly extending approximately parallel side flanges and with its intermediate or main portion between the flanges transversely flat adjacent the flanges and having a central eircumferentially extending outward bulge, and having a cushion tread onits peripheral face, and the flexible body being formed with shoulders to fit between and to bear outwardly against said side flanges, whereby the rim is held against lateral displacement relatively to the body, the unsupported side walls of the flexible body between the wheel felly and the rim being adapted to prevent lateral displacement of the rim relatively to the wheel felly, and the rim being supported and held against lateral displacement relatively to the wheel felly solely by the flexible body.

Lf. An armored pneumatic tire, comprising a flexible annular inflatable body, and af Lalanne floating rigid armor rim inour'ited on the 5 periphery of said nbody, said rim consisting of a .continuously integralmetal annulus formed with integral iiiivardly extending 5 side flanges providing lateral bearing' faces approximately parallelnto the plane of the axis of the'tire and with portions adjacent theI flanges providing' cylindrical bearing faces, and having a cushion tread secured to' lj i0 itspe'riplieral face, 'and the flexible body` being. formed with eircumferentially extending outwardly pr'ogectinp,r portions 'forming' should-ers to lit between and havingapproximately, parallell side faces to bear laterally 5. An armored pneumatic tire, comprising- `a flexible annular inflatable body, and a\ .30' floating rigid' armor rim mounted on the peripliery of said body, said rim consisting of a continuously integral metal yaiinulus formed with integral inwardly extending side .flanges approximately parallel to the 35 plane of the axis of the'tire and having a cushion tread secui'edto its peripheral'face,

and the flexible body being formed witheircumfereiitially extending` outwardly,project-` ing porticis forming shoulders to` i'it be-l 40 tween and having-approximately parallel faces to bear outwardly against said side lar in cross-section,

flanges, whereby tlie'riin is held against lat eral displacement' relatively te they body, the rim 'being supported and held. against lateral Idisplacement relatively to the Wheel felly solely bythe flexible body, vand the vside flanges of the rim extending' inward about the body to support thesaine and leaving unsupported and the rim flanges extendingr approximately parallel to the plane of the axis of the tire, lwlierelilyr side roll of the'tire is substantially'prevented.

6. An armored pneumatic tire, comprising va flexible annular inflatablebody, and a floating rigid armor rim nioun'tedn 'the periphery of said body, said rim .consisting of a metal aniiulusforined with inwardly ex- *tending side 'flanges approximately parallel only comparatively narrow portions of thev side walls .of the body between the wlieelfelly to 'the plane of the axis of the tire, and the flexiblebody being formed with a layer of strain-resisting material extending', from the inner portion thereof about the sides and tread portion thereof, such-layer in the sides and tread portion of the body when the body is inflated'being approximately semi-circuand the body having cir.-` cumferentially extending outwardly project-n ing' portions forming shoulders to fit .between and havingA approximately parallel side faces to bear laterally against said side flanges and, peripheral faces to bear radially outward against portions ofthe rim adjacent said flanges.

ln testimony whereof ly have hereunto set any haiidin the presence of two subscribing witnesses. BERNARD GRNVlLLl. W i tiiesses L. KENT, PAUL HI. FRANxn. 

